AUNTIE ALGORITHM KNOWS BEST?

 

We have lost control of where today's algorithms are driving us. 

And that is a scary thing if you think about it.

And intelligent pioneers like Bill Gates, Stephen Hawkins, and Elon Musk have been thinking about it.

 

When the men most likely to benefit from a new technology see a need for it to be put on a leash, 

there’s probably something worth worrying about.

But they were talking Artificial Intelligence, right?

Now, "Algorithm" besides being a mind-fuzzing concept 

is only a piece of computer code that makes a decision or recommendation of some kind.

Tell that to Dr. Louise Selby.  

She was barred from entering a women’s locker room 

because the computer code behind her gym’s security system automatically regarded 

all “doctors” as male!

DID YOU KNOW?

It is not just your imagination: 

there are A LOT OF OLD POSTS in your FACEBOOK feed. 

In an experiment last summer, 

a Washington Post reporter found FACEBOOK hid 60% of his friends' posts from his feed!

Sociologists are discussing that Algorithms are becoming a form of social engineering.

 

When you Google something, 

an algorithm decides what to place on your first page and what to put on the 1000th.

Facebook will not show you all your friends' posts, 

for they decide that would be too much. 

FB personalizes what you see as does Amazon and Netflix ... and the government ... and Big Brother.

Worse, FB's algorithm is optimized for FB and its advertisers ... not you.

 A study from Facebook’s data team showed algorithmic changes to the news feed 

could actually manipulate users’ feelings 

without their knowledge.

Sadly, FB algorithmically obscured breaking news from Ferguson, 

apparently in preference of lighter material with more pop cultural appeal.

More and more, algorithms are skewing 

what we see on the internet, 

showing us views that support our biases

 and filtering out data that counters them.

SPOOKY, HUH?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?